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European Space Agency

Press Release

Loss of Columbia - Online Forum
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10 February 2003

The families of the crew issued a statement: "Although we grieve
deeply, as do the families of Apollo 1 and Challenger before us, the
bold exploration of space must go on...the legacy of Columbia must
carry on - for the benefit of our children and yours". ESA shares in
the grief of the families, NASA and the whole space community. You can 
express your thoughts in our Forum. 

You can pass on your messages of support, voice your thoughts on the
human quest to explore the universe, and put your questions to the
European astronauts and other space experts.

Why send people into space? Can't robots - cheaper and expendable - do 
the job? Well, robots are used whenever possible. ESA's planetary
missions, for example, depend on robot intelligence for success.
Robots don't need to eat or breathe: a trickle of electricity and a
little radiation shielding are all the "life-support" that they
require. And 21st-century robots are very capable.

But humans are smarter than even 21st-century robots. They are
versatile, and they bring a lively and unpredictable intelligence with 
them. They can manage an immense range of scientific experiments, 
repair unplanned damage, and tell the rest of us about their 
experience when they return to Earth.

Space is a harsh frontier, and probably always will be. Astronauts and 
cosmonauts know the risks. They go because the human desire to explore 
the unknown is so strong and they know that they can contribute to 
human knowledge in ways that no computer can equal. 

The ESA astronauts are ready to answer your questions in the Forum. 


Science on STS-107
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STS-107 was a multidisciplinary mission with the US Space Shuttle
Columbia dedicated to scientific and commercial research under
microgravity conditions and to technological experimentation in space. 
The multidisciplinary research programme onboard Columbia was
performed inside a Spacehab Double Research Module, carried in the
Shuttle cargo bay. The concept and the technology of Spacehab were
derived from the European Spacelab programme.

The STS-107 mission had a duration of sixteen days during which more
than 100 new experiments on science, technology, applications and
research had been performed. Seven experiment facilities for the
STS-107 mission have either been developed by ESA or their utilisation 
was coordinated and financed by ESA.

First contacts with the operations and science teams of the three
successful ESA instruments that transmitted all their telemetry and
video data to the ground, revealed great sadness about the tragic end
of the STS-107 mission, but great satisfaction with the science data
that had been achieved due to the outstanding performance of the crew. 
You can post your questions on the science of the STS-107 in the 
Forum.


Help for first-time visitors to the Forum

If this is your first visit to an ESA Forum, you can have a look at
the questions posted simply by clicking on the Forum link. If you wish 
to participate, you need to register. Select the register button and 
enter your name and choose a password. 

In line with current Internet guidelines on privacy, we suggest you
use a nickname rather than supplying your full name. You will need to
complete your email address but this information will not be visible
to the Forum visitors and will remain completely confidential. No
information given will be passed on any outside companies or
organisations. 

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